If the wine tastes more alcoholic than stated on the label, then the sensations do not deceive . In fact, manufacturers in Europe lie about the alcohol content of drinks, deliberately underestimating its indication on the bottle. Why do they do this, the domestic tourist-sommelier told.
The expert explained in his blog on Yandex.Zen that this trend appeared in Europe relatively recently, half a century ago, winemakers could only rejoice if there were more alcohol in the bottle. At the time, a high alcohol level was considered an indication of the high quality of a wine. “A lot of alcohol meant that the grapes were well ripened and had a lot of sugars, which then turned into percentages on the label. But in the last ten years, everything has changed exactly the opposite,” the author noted.
To underestimate the level of alcohol on the label, modern producers were prompted by the climate and the trend towards a healthy lifestyle. Global warming has led to the emergence of sweeter grapes in familiar European regions (Italy, Spain, Portugal, France) and, in principle, vineyards where no one could even think of growing them (Sweden, Norway, the Baltics).
Here is a sommelier's explanation: “In traditional warm and hot wine-growing regions such as Spanish Meseta or Italian Sicily, grapes are already gaining too much sugar, which at the output gives 15.5, 16, or even under 17 degrees of alcohol in wine. This is already some kind of fortified wine without fortification! Meanwhile, the trend towards a healthy lifestyle is growing and expanding, forcing people to think about how much and what they drink… More and more people monitor the amount of alcohol consumed per week according to the “units” (alcoholic units) system.
Help: One unit is 10 ml of ethyl alcohol (8 grams), equal to 25 ml of vodka, as well as about 100 ml of wine or 200 ml of medium-strength beer. Modern researchers have found that men should not drink more than 4 units of alcohol per day, and women – no more than 2 units. At the same time, there should be at least three non-alcoholic days in each week.
Healthy lifestyle followers understand that drinking a glass of wine with 11% alcohol or another wine with 16% is a big difference for health, so in the European market, where every second considers himself a healthy lifestyle activist, there is an active demand for light, low-alcohol wines that do not burden the liver and don't force her to process too much ethanol after drinking. In order not to scare off consumers, producers of mass table wines without geographical indication often cheat by slightly lowering the alcohol level on the label, but leaving it high in the wine. We are not talking about colossal numbers, but just one degree, which for some can become critical when choosing alcohol.
“It will be problematic to lower the level by two degrees, but you can almost always steal a degree. At wineries operating under DoC, DOCG, AOC and their analogues, such tricks do not work, because there is control from the inspection authorities … So the next time you buy a bottle of Rosso d'Italia, pay attention to the percentage of alcohol on the label and in the wine ”, the tourist urged.
For those who care about a healthy lifestyle, we recommend reading: “The physiotherapist told how to properly wipe the ass after the toilet.”